Some COVID Positive Cases in China Can ‘Work as Normal’

By Alistair Baker-Brian, December 20, 2022

As China continues to ease anti-epidemic measures, employees in some areas of the country have been told they can “work as normal,” even if they test positive for COVID-19.

According to Guanchazhe Wang (观察者网), some provinces, cities and municipalities have said that employees who are asymptomatic or only have mild symptoms of COVID-19 can return to work.

On December 18, Chongqing Daily reported that those who work in government departments or in the private sector can return to work as normal.

A similar announcement was made by Wuhu Press Release (芜湖发布) WeChat Official Account – representing Wuhu city, Anhui province – on December 19.

And, the same was said at the Zhejiang Province 123rd Press Conference on COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention and Control on December 18.

Hospitals and medical institutions have issued similar announcements for medical staff.

While workplaces appear to be moving on from ‘dynamic zero-COVID,’ other institutions have shown more caution.

In Shanghai for instance, all students at primary school, secondary school, kindergarten and nursery can only attend online classes, as of December 19. Some exceptional cases can attend offline classes.

According to China’s latest rules, health code scanning and test result checking are still required to enter nursing homes, medical institutions, kindergartens and primary and secondary schools. In addition, some key government offices, large enterprises and special venues may decide their own anti-epidemic policies in accordance with local authorities.

[Cover image via Weibo/@大公文匯綱]